Proud to be a what?

Here is a joke for you. 

What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages? 

Trilingual. 

What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages? 

Bilingual. 

What do you call someone who speaks 1 language?

American. 

I'm an American, so I can tell that joke. While it is meant to simply be funny, there is a bit of truth to it. The vast majority of people I have met in the various countries I have visited thus far, with the exception of Americans, speak at least two languages. I personally still only speak English despite taking two years of Spanish in school and spending two years living in a foreign country, so I am definitely guilty as charged. I travel the world and expect other people to understand my English no matter where I am. That seems a bit stuck up and proud when you stop and think about it. Oh but that's right, I am proud to be an American, so it's all good.

The Internet (or at least my Facebook newsfeed) has recently been exploding with news and opinions and arguments over Confederate flags, racism, gay marriage, the Supreme Court, and other such topics. There are as many opinions floating around out there as there are people engaged in the discussion, and that's a lot. My opinion of it all? Well my opinion actually doesn't matter. But I will tell you my thoughts if you're really that interested. 

I've read several "I am no longer proud to be an American" type statements since the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, and I have to wonder, was it ever a good idea to be proud to be an American? There are supposedly some good kinds of pride, like taking pride in your work or being proud of your heritage, but isn't the correct attitude for even those things actually gratitude? You could take pride in the work of your hands if you actually had anything to do with the fact that you have hands at all or that those hands have certain talents or abilities. But hands are a gift. Talent is a gift. So are heritage and family and background. Instead of being proud of our nationality, let's be grateful for the many blessings and freedoms we have as Americans. The United States is very blessed in everything from natural resources to freedom of speech, but that has led us to a sense of entitlement that considers having a smartphone and getting purified water when you turn on the tap to be rights instead of blessings. So, I am not proud to be an American. But I definitely am grateful to have been born in a country where I don't have to worry about my family being kidnapped by terrorists or drug lords at any moment, where I can connect with friends on social media because the government hasn't blocked it and only allowed us access to their own propaganda material, and where I can dial three buttons on my phone to get almost instant high quality medical care or police help in an emergency. I want to humbly thank God for blessings like that instead of proudly expecting them. 

Anyone who is surprised by the direction our country is going must not have associated it yet with what the Bible says about pride. I'm pretty sure that pride leads to destruction, not an increase in greatness or morality. 

Humility is the opposite of pride, but grace is what I consider to be the key here. An accurate grasp of the grace of God helps me with my own personal struggle with pride. It opens my eyes to how little control we as humans actually have over things, which in turn reminds me to be thankful for the good things that I have but absolutely do not deserve. Death is what I deserve, not freedom. By God's grace I instead have life and true freedom. Am I proud of that? Nope. But I am extremely grateful. 

So when we mourn over the moral decline of our country, let's remember that it is only a country. What I pray God helps me truly mourn over is the individual lives that are being lost because they did not know Jesus. Instead of being proud of my Christianity, I want to be grateful for His grace that is sufficient for me and for every other person in the world. Instead of being disgusted by my country of birth, I want to be busy recruiting for His country of everlasting life. Instead of being angry at the courts or the government, I want to be angry at my sins and my failures. 

And those are my thoughts. 

---

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." -Proverbs 16:18

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Cultures

Have you ever read the little blurb on yogurt containers about the "live and active cultures" inside? It's a little creepy to think that your spoonful of yogurt is alive. But the comforting part is that it doesn't act alive until you have consumed it, so you don't have to watch it dancing around and being all active in your spoon. I would go cross eyed with each bite. 

When I refer to a culture, it isn't typically the dancing yogurt ones that I mean. Biology aside, the anthropological use of culture refers to the "complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." And that is straight from WikiPedia, so don't just take my word for it. We all live in certain cultures and subcultures based on our geographical location, the family we are part of, the line of work we pursue, et cetera, et cetera. Culture shock and new cultural experiences are part of the territory when we venture outside of our little culture bubbles and pop right through the soapy wall of a new bubble floating in the sea of humanity. Some of us are adventurous bubble hoppers who love the new experiences and the knowledge that come from spending time in new cultures and wonder just how different the next one will be? Some of us never leave the cozy comfort of our own bubbles and are completely happy that way. But either way, each bubble contains the life and activity that are unique to that specific culture. Like yogurt, the cultures are all live and active.

Yesterday, I was able to experience a part of the culture here in Botswana that was new to me. A friend of mine from church had two of his cousins pass away last week, and they have a tradition here that is somewhat of a memorial service to honor the deceased and to support the grieving family. Each evening between the person's death and his or her burial, friends and family members come to the house of the family and meet for a time of prayer and hymn singing. When my two church friends and I arrived, we were given the last three plastic chairs on the front row of the men's side. The women all sat on the ground to our right, and each one wore a head covering of some sort while the men all remained bare-headed. The male family members (father, brothers, uncles) sat in a row of chairs facing the gathering, and soon after our arrival the first song started. In between songs, the men at the front would stand up and speak or pray, and one man, who appeared to be a preacher rather than a family member, spoke from the Bible for a few minutes. All of the proceedings were in the Setswana language, so as the only white person present I simply hummed along with the songs and guessed at the gist of the words being spoken. After 20 or 30 minutes, the service ended and it appeared that a meal was going to be served, but we left before that happened and after shaking many hands on the way out. 

The entire tradition is one that fosters unity in the midst of grief and offers loving support to the deprived family. There were even tents pitched in the yard for those who had traveled a long distance to pay their respects. Clearly it was important for anyone close to the family to attend. And it was repeated every night for several days until the actual burial. 

The best thing about seeing and experiencing varying cultures is the chance to learn. Picking up on good traditions or habits from many different cultures can make you a better rounded person and can even change your perspective on life in some aspects. This Botswana funeral tradition emphasizes the importance of continual support and encouragement for those who have lost a loved one. We have our own ways of doing this in America, such as providing meals and buying flowers, but to see this method of coming together repetively put a new twist on it. And it is twists like that which keep our different cultures all alive and active. 

There and Back Again

With the release of the third and final Hobbit movie last month I thought the title to this post was rather fitting. Bilbo Baggins may have gone to perilous places filled with near-death experiences and then returned to the comfort and safety of the Shire, but for me it was rather the opposite. I left the dangers (mostly perceived dangers stereotypically associated with Africa) of my abode in Botswana and trekked off to the comfort and relative safety of my motherland for a few weeks of holiday vacation. So I have indeed been there and back again.

To quickly sum up my time back home for any interested readers I will give the highlights of my four weeks in America. The first two weeks were spent in Texas, and the days flew by as I relished the reunion with my family after one year and three months of living overseas. I was able to visit my grandmother in the hospital, meet my newest baby cousin, sing lots of Christmas carols, play games with friends and family, shop at Walmart, devour way more Christmas goodies than I should have, visit my brothers new townhouse, drive on the right side of the road, go on a flight with my dad, eat at Chic-Fil-A, watch the Hobbit movie, shoot guns, celebrate the birth of our Savior, and simply spend quality time with my parents and siblings. It was a wonderful and relaxing time that I am very grateful to have had. 

The next two weeks were spent in New Jersey with my girlfriend's family, and even the coldness of the weather didn't seem to slow down the spinning wheels of time. While there I was able to watch snow falling, celebrate New Years, go hunting for deer and turkey, attend an American church, meet new people, watch movies in front of a crackling fire, get one year older, eat lots of delicious food, go on dates with the woman I love, visit New York City, go bowling, have game nights, watch football (not soccer), and absolutely enjoy time spent with my girlfriend and her family. It all seemed to flash by and end before I knew what happened, but I thank God for the ability to make the trip back to the U.S. and have such a wonderful time.

During my 16 months here in Botswana I have grown accustomed to the way of life and the little idiosyncrasies of this part of the world compared to home, so I was expecting a bit of reverse culture shock when I returned to the states. There was an initial moment of shock when I first walked back inside a Walmart Supercenter and saw carts stacked to overflowing with stuff that nobody really needed, and realizations of the excess and waste of American culture did flit through my mind from time to time. However, I felt at home in most ways almost instantly and could have easily settled back into the way of life there once again. 

But should I? 

Should any of us get too comfortable with the earthly lifestyle that we live in no matter what country we may call home? For me, getting comfortable usually leads to lethargy or even apathy. I start to lose motivation when I am satisfied with the way things are. Contentment is a good quality to have when it comes to things like earthly possessions (that don't matter) and our calling in life (that we can't change), but I never want to be content with my relationship with Christ or with the way I am living my life. Those can always be made better, at least I believe they can.

Here's an example. I am comfortable with the people I know here in Maun. I know some from work, a few from church, a handful from conducting business around town, and that is enough for me. As a result, I rarely take the time to get to know new people at work, at church, or around the village. I have my circle of acquaintances and friends already, so why step out of my comfort zone and reach out to make new friends? That's not how a quiet guy like me operates. Yet with an attitude like that I am purposefully restricting my own sphere of influence and minimizing my ability to have an impact where it really matters - in people's lives. 

My comfort zone is killing me. I was originally excited to move here, start a new job, and meet new people because it would take me outside my comfort zone. But comfort zones are obviously mobile because mine followed me to Botswana and eventually caught up with me. 

So, largely due to my time in the U.S.A., I am being challenged again to stop being lazy, I mean comfortable, and to get up, reach out, and pursue people, God, and the things in this brief life that really matter. It's easy to say but proving harder to do, as with most resolutions, but with the Lord on my side I can succeed! 

Here are a few pictures from my trip:

The Siblings

Playing Around

Visiting Granny

New Year's Eve

Central Park, NYC

Going Hunting

 

Silence

Have you ever been somewhere that was so absolutely silent that you could hear the blood flowing through your veins? It is quite incredible. You hear your own pulse and the low murming of your body doing what it constantly does just to keep you alive. The rest of the world is absolutely still and quiet.

Lying on my back in the middle of a massive salt pan one still night and gazing up at the stars, I was able to experience such silence. It is a very rare opportunity in this day and age and requires the perfect environment and conditions in order to occur. It's a little bit strange, but silence is so out of the norm for most of us that sometimes we hate it. A safari guide was telling a story at dinner the other night about a family from New York City who came to stay in camp and actually had to play recordings of city noises on their computers at night in order for the children to fall asleep. Believe me, honking taxi cab noises seem very out of place in an area like the Kalahari desert, but if noises are what you are accustomed to, then noises are what will make you feel comfortable. 

Aside from outside noises that reach our ears, what about inner noises that fill our minds from the thoughts we think? You can be in the quietest place on the planet and still "hear" lots of things in your mind. Men are said to have a "nothing box" where their minds can go and be completely empty as they zone out and think about absolutely nothing. Whether that is true or not, most people's minds are thinking the vast majority of the time rather than sitting dormant. What do we think about? I have personally been guilty of claiming to have been in my nothing box simply because I didn't realize what thoughts had been passing through my mind just moments earlier. Seriously, who thinks about what they are thinking about? But now I have you thinking about whether or not you think about what you are thinking about, right? I thought so. 

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8 ESV)

What thoughts we allow in our minds is very important. And yes, we are the ones who allow thoughts to stay in our minds. They may pop up seemingly out of nowhere, but whether or not they are allowed to stay is up to us. As 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "Take every thought captive to obey Christ." Those of us who belong to Christ are no longer subject to a yoke of slavery, not in our minds or our lives, and must be masters of our thoughts under the Lordship of God. 

So in any moments of silence you may have throughout the day, meditate on your blessings, on the Bible, and on things that bring honor to our Savior. When thoughts that are not good creep in, get rid of them! I will be right there with you trying to do the same thing. 

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him." (Psalm 62:5 ESV)

Just keep spinning, just keep spinning

Within a one week span, I got my truck stuck in the sand - twice. A little bit of digging and a friendly tug from another vehicle was all it took to get me right out, and, so as to not make my truck look like a sissy, there were two other vehicles that we had to also assist in getting un-bogged. Coming from east Texas I am much more used to mud than sand, so it was an interesting experience just driving through the stuff let alone getting stuck. The second time the truck got stuck was the worst. As it tried to plow its way out of a deep patch of sandy road, I could feel it digging itself in deeper until the chassis bottomed out on the sand and the wheels just spun freely without touching the ground enough to pull it forward any further.

Sometimes I think we feel that way in our lives. Our wheels are spinning and spinning as we get up early every morning, work hard all day long, and go to bed exhausted at night just to repeat the cycle again the following day. We feel stuck in one place. What progress do we have to show for our hard work? We feel as if we aren't going anywhere. What is the point of working and working all the time anyway? 

It is easy to get stuck in a rut and lose sight of why we have even been traveling the road we are on in the first place. In college when a certain test or project was weighing me down and clouding my mind with doubts as to whether or not all of the effort was even worth it, I would look back in time to the way God had led me to that place and that remembrance would strengthen my resolve to press forward. I may not be in college anymore, but real life is much the same way. When the alarm clock goes off before the crack of dawn and another long, hot day of flying people from one place to another stares me in the unshaven face I wonder, "what in the world am I doing in Africa? I could fly much faster and cooler airplanes in America and be closer to family and friends that way. Why am I here? This routine is going to get old." And then I look backwards at my tracks through the sand and remember that I am here for more than just the completion of a daily routine. 

Don't get so focused on the road that you miss the beauty of the passing landscape. The purpose of my truck's spinning wheels was to carry us through the amazing countryside and allow us a glimpse of God's incredible handiwork and creativity. Our daily routines of work, eat, and sleep are for the purpose of propelling us through life where we can look around us and reach out with a helping hand or kind word to others traveling this road of life. 

I think of Peter walking on the water and how he was doing just fine until He looked away from the face of Jesus and down at the waves swelling up on every side. Don't let the sand or the waves pull you down. Those wheels have to keep spinning. Those feet have to keep walking. 

Hunger

I live in Africa. Every kid in America knows it as the place with starving children who would love to eat their vegetables. Naturally there is some truth to that stereotype, particularly in certain African countries, but the people of Botswana don't generally go hungry or face the threat of starvation. Not physically at least...

Like anywhere in our fallen world there is spiritual hunger here. Like anywhere in our fallen world it is often fed with false religions and lusts of the flesh. And like anywhere in our fallen world the bread of life is still available for all who will come and partake. All of us have that "God sized hole" in our hearts that nothing but Christ can fill, and yet I believe that even with Christ we are still hungry - at least we should be. Just as physical hunger of the stomach returns every so often once the most recent meal has been digested, our spiritual hunger for God's word and His presence should start to gnaw at us if we go too long without feeding it. 

The flight schedules here in Maun are busiest between 9 AM and 4 PM and I regularly have back to back to back flights during that seven hour period. I don't mind the work or the flight hours, but as I was first settling into such a daily schedule, my stomach complained. There is no time to eat lunch when you fly like that. Occasionally you can sneak in a sandwich in-flight if you have an empty leg and remembered to pack one, but eating with passengers on board is both rude, unprofessional, and dangerous to any weak stomachs onboard that might catch a whiff of the food's scent. So I have gotten used to only eating two meals a day for the most part. It isn't a bad thing. I still weigh the same amount as I did six years ago when I left home for college. I have gotten used to it so much that my stomach has given up grumbling around midday. And therein lies the danger. If we quench our conscience and the hunger pangs of our spirit enough times we may eventually lose them. We may grow accustomed to the new normal of a dry spiritual life and fail to yearn, desire, and hunger for the bread and water of life. And that is a bad thing. 

So as I sit here slurping down spaghetti noodles and smacking on some well seasoned butternut squash, the delicious food reminds me of what I was missing out on all day long. As I read and ponder the Words of Life from my Bible tonight before bed, the delight that it brings my heart and the fruit that it bears in my life will remind me of the importance of keeping a steady diet of scripture flowing to my soul. 

Starving children would love to eat your leftover vegetables. Dying souls would love to know the truth about life in Christ. 

Windings

A little over a week ago I was flying along Botswana's borders with South Africa and Zimbabwe doing my best to make sure I didn't violate international airspace and get into all kinds of trouble for it. There is no wall in the sky along the border to indicate where the forbidden line to cross extends upward into the blue sky. The corresponding lines on the map and the GPS indicate that the border is very wavy and goes all up, down, and around as it makes its way across the countryside. Why couldn't someone have just made the boundary between these countries a straight line and prevented me from needing to change my course so much as I fly between airports? I crane my neck to look across and downward through the passenger-side window at the border down below and find my answer. Thousands of feet below lies a winding river, snaking its way across the otherwise dry landscape. That river is the borderline. And for reasons of gravity and terrain, rivers don't normally flow in a nice straight line like the border I wished for would need. They wind back and forth, and so did I as I followed along the northern side of this particular river. 

As Christians we often refer to the "straight and the narrow" way that we follow to Heaven, and there are a number of Bible verses we can refer to which talk about straight paths. But in reality it seems more accurate to refer to following Christ as the narrow way and to our lives on this earth as full of turns and windings rather than being straight. Certainly we must maintain the straightness of truth compared to the twisting of evil, but a straight path is one you can look ahead on for many miles and see what is coming. If you can look years ahead in your life and see everything that will come, then three cheers for you. As for me, I am doing good just to know what might happen tomorrow. 

As humans we want answers. We want advance notice. We want time to prepare. But life doesn't always give us what we want - surprise! Change happens fast. We really don't know what tomorrow holds. As the saying goes, "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken." Since my arrival in Botswana there have been ups and downs with immigration paperwork, pilot licensing, flight scheduling, and so on that taught me to be prepared for the unknown and to expect the unexpected....if that is even possible. People have come and gone with our organization and life continues to wind its way back and forth. Doors have opened in one direction and closed in others. But as different as the path for each of our lives may be and as many turns as we must make away from what we expected, all of us have the same final destination. Like Ecclesiastes 1:7 says of flowing water, "All rivers run into the sea" so all lives end in eternity, either with God or apart from Him. 

As the windings of a river, so my life twists and turns along it's course. 

Faith. By Definition

Words are strange things. Basically they are shortened or condensed versions of what we are trying to say. Think about it. A single word has a meaning (or even multiple meanings) that requires many more words just to explain. Try to imagine what it would be like for us to talk in definitions. Instead of saying "I feel happy today" it would be "I perceive myself to be in a state of mind characterized by or indicative of pleasure." It reminds me of the way Eugene Melsner from the Adventures in Odessey radio show talked. When I am sitting in church here in Botswana and listening to a translator take an English phrase and turn it into understandable Setswana it sometimes seems like they are having to define the English words rather than give a direct word-for-word translation because they use so many words in place of a very few English words, or vice versa. 

I was thinking about words and definitions today as I read Hebrews 11:1, which is basically giving a definition of the word faith. The verse says, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." That right there is a definition of what faith is. And yet, when I read it I am not satisfied. All of my questions about faith are not answered by that. So a word needs a definition and then a definition needs an explanation and the explanation may change depending on the application. See, I told you words were strange things. 

If we keep pressing on into Hebrews 11 after the definition of faith there are many examples of it and how it was applied in the lives of certain Biblical characters. Here is a non-exhaustive list by verse:

2. By faith men gained approval

3. By faith we understand

4. By faith Abel offered a sacrifice

5. By faith Enoch did not see death

7. By faith Noah prepared an ark

8. By faith Abraham obeyed God's calling

11. By faith Sarah received the ability to conceive

17. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac 

29. By faith the Israelites passed through the Red Sea

30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell

So in all of these instances people had confidence in what they hoped for, whether they were hoping for a child or deliverance or victory, and assurance about what they did not see, whether they didn't see how the world could flood or a sea could part or an old womb could be opened. Sounds simple enough. I think the problem comes with the definitions of confidence and assurance. Confidence means "full trust" and assurance means "full confidence" or "full full trust" if you will. That is a lot of trust. It leaves NO room for doubt. Zero. Zilch. Nada. And that, my friend, is not so simple - as least not for me. 

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:6 ESV)

Desolate

The word desolate has a few different meanings. It can mean barren, solitary, forlorn, dismal, or deserted. To me, this picture of a salt pan in Botswana looks desolate. There is nothing but hard packed dirt for as far as the eye can see in places like this. 

Sometimes my spirit feels desolate. If a heart surgeon were to open me up at times like that he might not find anything but hard packed dirt inside (or maybe not). But seriously, there are moments and places in our lives where we feel solitary, dismal, or deserted. Perhaps it's because of how someone we love has treated us. Perhaps it's because of circumstances that always seem to be going against us and beating us down. Perhaps it is even because we are not allowing the Holy Spirit to well up inside of us with a spring of living water like He promised. The only chance a desert has of getting any greenery to sprout up or plants to take root is if it gets sufficient water. Likewise, it is the living water of Jesus which is our only hope for growth and life. 

So whenever I see a desert I think "Wow, this place could use some water." Then when I see a person with a parched soul I think "Wow, this person needs Jesus to give them new life." But let's not fool ourselves. I can become a parched soul too if I quench the Spirit as 1 Thessalonians 5:19 talks about. An occasional rain in the desert does no real good. It takes good steady rains that come consistently for a long time to bring about any change to desolate salt pans. I also need consistent time in God's Word and in prayer with Him to be the fruitful follower that He wants me to be. 

Instead of living in desolation, I choose to dwell in the land of milk and honey - the only oasis in this dry and dying world. 

2,160 Hours Later...

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6 ESV)

The time for casting away the distraction of the Internet has ended for me, and the time for keeping in touch with the world again has returned. As of the 1st of April my 90 day hiatus from the World Wide Web (and I have discovered that it is world wide just like it claims) has come to an end. I am grateful for the time it allowed me to have for focusing on the Lord, getting settled in my new home, and starting to connect with the people God has surrounded me with here in Botswana. It was a blessed time that was beneficial in more ways than one. 

Not surprisingly, 3 months of being away from the world in a sense was not a cure-all that caused all of the problems and trials of life to go away, but that was not what I expected anyway. A recurring theme in my Biblical lessons learned recently has been about trials. Paul talked about them a good deal in his letters to the New Testament churches, and I have learned, or at least been reminded again, of the value that hardships can have our spiritual lives and the very fact that they are to expected as we follow The Lord and walk in His way. Trials and difficulties come up on a daily basis here at work, but as my supervisor likes to say, they are just opportunities to grow in grace. And there lies the key to it all. We must learn and grow in the midst of hard times instead of allowing them to make us hard, cynical, or bitter. The notion that hard=bad is neither accurate nor Biblical and yet it has been something that I have had to change in my way of thinking. It seems like an easy life makes a soft Christian, and a soft Christian makes only a tiny impact for Christ if any at all. That is not what I want. And so The Lord continues to work in my life day after day in both the hard times and the good times. 

The main changes that have taken place for me in the year 2014 are that I moved permanently up to the town of Maun, successfully went through a month of initial operating experience in the Cessna 206, and am now busy flying in and around the Okavango Delta region of northern Botswana. On the Sundays when I am free I attend services at the local Baptist church (which is quite an experience in itself) and I have been plugged into a small group Bible study that occurs most every weekend as well. In addition to the other Flying Mission personnel that I work with each day I have had opportunities to develop relationships with safari camp staff and a few local people that I come in contact with regularly. The flying is great, but it is the people that matter the most. 

Every day is a new adventure full of new opportunities, and not just because I am in Africa. God gives us all life that we may have it more abundantly. My life is abundant, and I am very thankful.